Cartridge shell



May 19, 1936. LEUSSLER 2,041,253

CARTRIDGE SHELL Filed May 15, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 13, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [71 yen for:

Patented May 19, 1936.

i UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to cartridge shells, especially for small shot cartridges preferably to be used in connection with shot-guns for hunting ,purposes. Heretofore the shells for car-- tridges of this kind have ordinarily been made from pasteboard and -=the bottom of -the-cartridge had been provided with a metal-cap inserted into or otherwise fastened to said bottom to serve as an openingfor the reception of the percussion or priming cap.

Cartridges for small shot have also been. made in the form of metal shells bypressure-casting that is from hot aluminum or zinc alloys or similar material. These metal shells have likewise been provided with caps at their bottom or made integral with the latter.

The aforementionedpasteboard as well as metal shells are further equipped with aninner aperture or bung-bole formed by a special short ring made of pasteboard or metal, saidring forming the. boundary for the powder space of the cartridgeand. serving as a support foran intermediary disk of pasteboard, felt or the like, said disk separating the powder space from the remaining space of the cartridge which serves for the reception of the charge of small shot.

According to my invention the shell of the .small shotycartridge is made integral with the bottom-part thereof which is provided with a seat or receptacle for apriming cap, as well. as with the aforementioned reinforced wall extending, over a proper portion of; the length of the shell by means of a process of pressing from a piece of material in cold condition thereof. Inthis casesaid-reinforced wall of the shell may immediately serve as a support for the aforementionedintermediaryzdisk, or said support may also be represented by a groove-likecontraction at..-,the proper place on the shell whose reinforced bottom part may be provided with the aforementioned seat or receptacle for the priming cap by subsequently shaping said bottompart by means of amechanical pressure process.

By my invention the manufacture of cartrldges for small shot may be considerably simpliiied and the cost of manufacture greatly reduced and in addition, cartridge shells made according to my invention will be of extraordinary strength in spite of the small thickness of their walls.

According to my invention the aforementioned groove-like contraction which serves as a supporting collar for said intermediary disk may also be made in the form of a compressed fold Germany March 15, 1934 obtained from an annular groove folded by pressure against the inner wall of the shell which results in the advantage that the shell cannot yield in longitudinal direction or be stretched or resiliently expanded upon firing as is the case with cartridges in which said supporting collar is constituted solely by an annular groove drawn into the interior surface of the tube.

In the accompanying drawings which form partof this specification I have shown several forms of construction of my new metal cartridge shell and the several steps of manufacturing the same. In the drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are vertical sectional views and show in a-greatly enlarged scale a construction of my new cartridge shell in which the supporting collar for said intermediary disk is obtained by properly reinforcing the walls of the shell along the powder space, Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are similar representations of a contruction of my cartridge shellin which the support for said disk is constituted by a contraction of the shell at the 'forward end of the powder space, while Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, l1 and 12 show on a smaller scale further constructions of my new cartridge shell in which the support for said intermediary disk is made in the form of a compressed fold obtained from an annular groove pressed into the surface of the shell, said groove being folded together by compression towards the interior surface of the shell. In these views,-Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are vertical sectional views; Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section of the fold illustrated in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section of a shell having the completed fold; and Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section of such comthe new cartridge shell is made is placed in cold condition and in the shape of a plate into a proper female die or mould and pressed intothe latter by means of a male die under high mechanical pressure. By reason of the high pressure and the sudden development of heat ensuing therefrom the cold metal plate will became mouldable and the liquid metal will now be pressed upward between the female die and the male die into the shape of a cartridge shell.

In order to manufacture cartridge shells according to Figs. 1', 2 and 3, there is at first made a shell I as shown in cross-section in Fig. 1 by a process of cold pressing. .At its underside the shell body I extends into the bottom part 3 with its outer annular rim 4, both integral with said shell body, the wall of said bottom part being reinforced with respect to the wall of the shell body proper and extending to the full length of the powder space. The cartridge shell after having been given the form shown in Fig. 1 is now provided at its bottom surface with a centralseat 5 as shown in crosssection in Fig. 2, said seat 5 serving as a receptacle for the priming cap as shown in Fig. 3 likewise in cross-section. The powder is now filled in the usual manner into the so com-- pleted cartridge shell, covered up by means of an ntermediate disk which is supported by the upper rim of the reinforced wall portion 3 of the shell, ind now the charge of small shot is filled-in and :overed up by another disk, which is kept in posi: ion in the usual way by inward bending or :rimping of the free upper margin of the shell.

In the construction of the cartridge shell shown n Figs. 4, 5 and 6 there is at first again made the :hell body 6 by a process of cold pressing with its 'einforced bottom I and with side walls 8 tapering n upward direction to gradually merge into the hickness of the wall of the shell body proper. the thickness of the material forming said bottom in conjunction with the reinforced side walls 8 s so dimensioned, that during the subsequent working step a change in form will be possible 'y means of which the seat or receptacle 5 for the lriming cap as well as the outer rim 4 may be made rom material forming part of said bottom. Subequen't to this, an annular contraction 9 is ressed or rolled into the wall of the shell by a urther working step as indicated in Fig. 6. The nnular contraction 9 constitutes the upper oundary for the powder charge and simultaneusly serves as a support for a disk or plug to be laced intermediate the powder filling and the barge of small shot of the completed cartridge. When pressing in the annular contraction, the :ngth of the shell, as may be seen from a comarison between Figs. 5 and 6, will be shortened small distance which'should be taken into con- .deration when making the shell by said former rocess of cold pressing. The annular contracon or groove 9, as shown in Fig. 6, will permit :1 eventually undesirable resilient expanding or metching of the shell during firing, which, how ver, may be avoided if instead ,of said annular )ntraction or groove the shell is provided with a aecial supporting rim for the disk between the owder and the small shot as shown'in Figs. 7, 8.

10, 11 and 12 in a longitudinal section. In the resent case the shell is made the same as accordlg to Fig. '7 as a single piece by means of the rocess of pressing from cold material and is furaoercse ther provided with a reinforced bottom plate 2 carrying a seat or receptacle for the priming cap, the likewise reinforced lateral wall tapering in cross-section to merge into the wall i of the shell proper. Above the reinforced bottom which oomprises the bottom plate 2 and the lateral wall 8 an annular groove 9 is pressed into the wall of the shell 5 as shown in Fig. 8, said groove extending in the form of an inwardly projecting annular rim causing a shortening of the original length of the shell by a distance a as represented at the top of Fig. 8. Said annular groove 9 isnow compressed by a further working step as indicated in Fig. 9 and from the enlarged partial cross-section shown in Fig. 10, so that there will be a further shortenim of the shell by a distance a causing the upper and under facing surfaces of said groove to come in contact with each other as shown in Fig. 10. At the same time there will be formed an inwardly projecting annular rim 9 on the shell, which rim as a whole may be bent upward or downward as shown in Fig. 12 in an enlarged partial cross section of the shell, with the result that a compressed fold 9" is formed by the wall of the shell, said compressed fold being bent'down against the inner surface of the wall of the shell to form a supporting rim or collar for the disk or plug to be placed between the powder charge and the small shot. In addition to this, said compressed fold shown in Fig. 12 will safely pre vent the aforementioned stretching of the shell in longitudinal direction during firing.

- I claim:

'1. A cartridge shell formed from a single piece of metal and having a reinforced bottom, and a cylindrical wall reinforced along the portion defining a powder chamber, said cylindrical wall adjacent the upper end of said powder chamber being deflected inwardly to form a fold and said fold being bent over in contact with the wall to define a. shoulder on the inner surface of said cylindrical wall, thereby forming a seat for the disk separating the powder chamber from the shot chamber.

2. A cartridge shell having a bottom and a cylindrical wall defining a powder chamber, said cylindrical wall adjacent the upper end of said powder chamber being deflected inwardly and folded flat against the inner surface of said wall to define an annular shoulder on the inner surface of said wall and to present a smooth outer surface of uniform diameter.

3. A cartridge shell formed from a single piece of aluminium and having a reinforced bottom, and a cylindrical wall reinforced along the portion defining a powder chamber, said cylindrical wall adjacent the upper end of said powder chamber being deflected inwardly and folded flat against the inner surface of the cartridge wall to define an annular shoulder on the inner surface of said wall and to present a smooth outer surface of uniform diameter.

- EMIL LEUSSLER. 

